Preservation of the active lactone form of irinotecan using drug eluting beads for the treatment of colorectal cancer metastases

The distribution of the active lactone and the inactive carboxylate forms of irinotecan released from drug eluting beads composed of a sulfonate-modified PVA hydrogel was studied in order to ascertain the interaction between irinotecan, a water-soluble derivative of anti-cancer drug camptothecin, and the sulfonate groups in beads. Under a neutral condition of pH 7.0, it was demonstrated that the lactone form preferentially binds with sulfonate groups in the hydrogel beads through charge–charge interaction, and the equilibrium of the two forms shifts in favour of the lactone. In terms of stability, the drug–sulfonate interaction results in the retention of the active lactone form within the hydrogel beads. Kinetic experiments indicated that in PBS, the rate constants of lactone hydrolysis and carboxylate lactonization were 3.10 (± 0.33) × 10− 3 min− 1 and 1.36 (± 0.04) × 10− 3 min− 1, respectively. The modelling and elution experiments of the distribution of the lactone and carboxylate during irinotecan delivery by different methods, such as bolus injection, infusion and bead delivery, showed that both infusion and embolic bead delivery provided the lactone form with prolonged half-life. In addition, drug eluting beads have the characteristics of targeted delivery and low toxicity and the advantage of storage of the active form of irinotecan by polyanion stabilisation for use in local therapy of metastatic colorectal cancer to the liver.